3 minute read

John and Thady Gosden’s Queen Of The Pride produced a power-packed performance to claim the Group 2 Lancashire Oaks at Haydock before the remaining three races on the card were abandoned.

There was a problem with horses slipping on the home bend earlier on the card, but following an inspection after race two, the feature Group 2 took place thirty minutes behind schedule.

The regally-bred daughter of Roaring Lion, who is out of the Classic winning mare Simple Verse, was sent off the 100/30 second favourite to back up her victory in the Group 3 Lester Piggott Fillies' Stakes over the same course and distance.

Confidently ridden by Qatar Racing's retained rider Oisin Murphy, Queen Of The Pride began to make her move with three furlongs to run, tracking Sir Mark Prescott's Tiffany (85/40f) as the pair headed towards the two pole.

Morris looked to get to work on the recent Newcastle scorer and although she found plenty for pressure, the eye was always drawn to the smooth-travelling Queen Of The Pride, who moved on by before drawing away for a commanding three-length success.

Lady Boba found Queen Of The Pride too strong when going down by a short-head to her at the same venue on her last outing and she once again couldn't match the finishing kick of the winner, eventually finishing three and a half lengths behind in third.

Paddy Power cut the winner to 6-1 from 16-1 for the Yorkshire Oaks but winning rider Oisin Murphy believes a trip to Longchamp on Arc weekend could be on the cards,

Murphy said: "She really relaxed today and jumped and travelled. I thought we went a good, even pace and I was quite cautious of the bend, so I went from following Luke Morris (Tiffany) quite closely to giving him a few lengths head start at the top of the straight.

"I was really pleased with how she picked up and she ran right the way through the line. We all thought after she won her last race here that something like the Prix de Royallieu would be a good long-term target and I'm sure that's in John and Thady's mind."

Co-trainer Thady Gosden added: "Obviously she won here last time in the Lester Piggott (Pinnacle) Stakes, and she was still a little green and learning then. You could see here today she's definitely picked up a bit from last time out.

"She has run well here over the mile and a half, so it's possible (the Yorkshire Oaks). We'll have to assess our options and see where we go.

"She's a proper Qatar Racing homebred. It's very unusual to own the sire and the mother and they were two champions in their own right, so it's a huge achievement for them.

"We'll see how she comes out of it; she's done absolutely nothing wrong so far and she's a smart filly."

Luke Morris reported that his filly Tiffany slipped up on the same bend that Tom Marquand had reported earlier on the card and subsequently races four, six and seven, which included the Old Newton Cup, were abandoned due to unsafe ground.

Molly Day, general manager of Haydock Park, said of the events: "An inspection was called following three horses slipping on the bend leaving the back straight in our second race, and as a result, reactive measures were taken to ensure the bend was safe to continue racing ahead of our third race.

"However, following race three a further inquiry was called, and the decision has been made to abandon all races on the round course (race four, race six and race seven).

"The welfare of our equine and human participants is our number one priority, and there are no further measures that can be taken to ensure the racing surface is safe to run the rest of today's card in full. We are very sorry to all our racegoers here today, and all ticket purchasers will be offered an equivalent ticket or badge to another 2024 fixture of their choice, subject to availability."